Character sketch of mr Oliver in face in the dark
Answers
Answer:
A Face in the Dark is an interesting suspense story by Ruskin Bond where the author brilliantly exploits the elements of fear and darkness to capture the reader’s imagination. Dealing with the themes of fear, darkness and the supernatural, A Face in the Dark has a quick-paced plot which draws the reader in before leaving an unforgettable impression by keeping the climax right till the very end of the story.
A Face in the Dark follows a rather troubling event experienced by Mr Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher from a well reputed school in Shimla. This school had been named ‘The Eton of the East’ by the Life magazine and had groomed generations of boys from wealthy Indian families.
Mr Oliver, the protagonist of the story is said to have had the habit of strolling in the Shimla bazaar, about three miles from the school during the evening before returning via a shortcut through a pine forest. The tall pines would often make an awfully sad whistling sound when strong winds passed through them. In the story, the nature of this sound seems to have a disturbing effect on the passers-by who avoid traveling through the forest and stick to the main road. Because Mr Oliver was not a “nervous or an imaginative man“,we find him taking the road less travelled. He’s carried a torch whose batteries are running out and whose light move fitfully across the narrow forest. Definitely not a good sign for Mr Oliver.
The flicker of the light from his torch falls on the figure of a boy wearing a school cap. Initially, Mr Oliver wants to identify the miscreant as the students were forbidden from venturing out after dark as per the school rules. However, he quickly realizes that something is not quite right in this case:
“The boy appeared to be crying. His head hung down and held his face in his hands and his body shook violently. It was a strange soundless weeping. Mr Oliver felt distinctly uneasy.”